A/N: Once again, I would like to remind all readers that I have rewritten the plot of this story. Chapter 1 has been completely rewritten and chapter 2, some. Some things have also been added. The next chapter will be up really soon.
Thank you all for the support (especially the wonderful reviews) and please enjoy.
Chapter 2
5 month later
"Are you sure you have everything?" Petunia asked as she handed Harry a pair of clean boxers, "What if you forget something? It's so far from home and you would be all alone. I won't be able to help you."
"I'll be fine aunt Petunia," he said, a little exasperatedly, "It's the US, not the middle of nowhere. If I need something, I'll find a place to buy it."
"Oh I know," Petunia sighed and petted his arm fondly, "It's just I worry about you. At least it's not Dudley going away. That boy is so hopeless by himself that I'm afraid to even let him sleep at his friend's house."
Harry laughed at the truthiness of those words.
"I'm fine," he repeated, "I'm a big boy." He was warmed by the concern in his aunt's voice and offered the woman a big smile.
"I know, I know." Aunt Petunia sighed.
At that moment, the door to Harry's room opened and Dudley came in, still dressed in his private school's uniform. It was his last day of school since he finished a week later than Harry.
Dudley took one look at the books in Harry's bag and grimaced.
"Really, couz? You finally have some time to yourself on the plane and you decide to read books?"
"Personally I find reading is a great way to pass time," Petunia interjected before Harry could reply, "I wish you would read more as well Dudley."
Dudley made a face and turned to Harry.
"I just want to tell you Dad's downstairs waiting to bring you to the airport. He wants to leave now in order to beat the evening rush."
"Alright," Harry nodded, "Please tell him I'm coming."
With the help of his aunt, Harry managed to bring his two bags down the stairs. Vernon came out of the car at his approach and grabbed the luggage and put it in the trunk.
"Well this is it," Harry said a little awkwardly since he has never been good with goodbyes, "I'll be going now."
"Oh Harry," Petunia sniffed and hugged him tight, "Don't forget to write even if you're having a lot of fun. And don't forget to contact those two friends of yours from time to time; they're drive us crazy if you ignore them too long."
"Of course," Harry replied easily, "See you all soon."
With that, he crawled in to the passenger seat and closed the door.
As the car slowly made its way down the street towards the highway, Harry wondered just what this adventure would bring him.
Harry hated airports.
One might find it strange that Harry already had such strong feelings towards them when his last airplane trip dated back to his childhood when Vernon had won a trip to Cuba and had brought the family along. But it didn't matter how many times Harry was forced to take a plane, one time, even when he was barely old enough to walk and talk, is enough to cement his hatred.
Why? Well, there are numerous reasons for that.
For one thing, airports were...crowded; not the good kind of crowded that can get you worked up in the best of ways, but the bad kind of crowded that only happens when you throw a bunch of sleep-deprived travellers, with a strict schedule to follow and no time to respect things like manners, in a closed space with no fresh air. Harry had just descended the plane and already he couldn't remember the number of times people who had bumped in to him and instead of apologizing, just gave him a glare.
Another thing about airports that Harry hates, is how bloody confusing they were. There are signs, sure, but that only helps people who already knows where to go. If you don't even know your flight number because you were stupid enough to get your itinerary and ticket wet, making the words unreadable, all the maps in the world won't be able to help you.
Luckily, after claiming his luggage, finding where he was supposed to go was pretty easy; all he had to do was follow the crowd. With efficiency on his side, Harry managed to reach the exit in a matter of 30 minutes; his baggage in hand, he pushed open the heavy glass door and followed his fellow travellers in to a melee of screaming family members and overexcited friends. It took Harry 2 more minutes to find the sign with his own name, held up by a guy who looks barely old enough to be in university, and headed towards him.
"Mr. Dursley?" The guy - David if his name tag is to be trusted - asked once he was close enough, "Your ID please."
Harry handed over his passport and observed his escort silently while the latter worked. It didn't take long for him to come to the conclusion that Harry was indeed who he said he was and smiled at him.
"Right this way, then Mr. Dursley; a car is waiting for you at the front."
When David had said car, Harry had imagined a "normal" car, like the ones he sees on TV on in the driveway of town houses. He did not expect the huge black monstrosity of a limo parked in front, successfully blocking other cars and attracting everyone's attention. Harry could have sworn he saw someone taking photos with his cell.
This is fantastic, he thought sarcastically as he tried to make it to the door without getting his face taken as a photo, one would think I'm some kind of celebrity.
David, to his credit, looked as uncomfortable as Harry and pretty bloody apologetic at his fate.
"I'm sorry," he told the young man once they were in the safety of the vehicle "Mr. Stark liked to show off and doesn't seem to understand that not everyone enjoys the attention.
"That's ok," Harry told him, "Don't worry about it."
He wasn't one to blame the underlings for their superior' choices. Instead he settled back in to the comfortable leather seats and closed his eyes. He fell asleep in a matter of seconds, finally letting his earlier exhaustion catching up to him.
It felt as if he had only been napping for a minute or two when David started shaking him to wake him up.
"We're here," he told Harry with a smile, "Stark Industries."
Harry yawned, rubbing his eyes to bleed out the excess sleep from them and finally looked out the window.
They had stopped in some kind of underground garage, already full with all kinds of cars. The only decoration in this whole place was a big SI logo on the wall. For a place to park cars, Harry has to admit it's pretty clean.
With David's help, Harry managed to get out his two bags quite easily; he then followed David up a set of stairs and in to the main building.
A woman, dressed in a business suit and 5 inch high heels, was waiting for them. Harry immediately recognized the red head as Ms. Potts from the conference. She smiled genuinely when she saw Harry approach.
"Mister Dursley, nice to see you again" she said as she shook his hand, her grip firm, "Tony was supposed to come meet you himself but since I'm now the CEO of Stark Industries, I agreed to take his place."
Harry's eyes widened.
"Congratulations on your promotion," he told her, truly happy for her. Ms. Potts was the kind of person who could make anyone like her. She was real and didn't take any shit from anyone, even if that anyone was her boss. Tony must have realized that so he gave her the job. Harry could still remember the earful she gave Tony about respecting women after the crowd of students have been dismissed.
"Thank you," she replied pleasantly, "now, come this way, unfortunately, you will only be able to meet Mr. Stark himself tonight since he likes to work in his labs at home during the day. Right now, I want to give you a tour of the place."
She then turned to David and added: "You can go now, David, thanks for your help."
"Of course, Miss Potts," David replied with a small bow before disappearing down one of the corridors. Once he was gone, Miss Potts gestured towards another set of glass doors, opposite from where David had left.
"Shall we?" she said, "If we want to get this done before dinner, we have to start now."
After a 3 hours long tour (if that was possible), plus one hour for lunch, Harry found himself ushered once again in to another limo, this one heading to Stark Manor. The driver, a different one from his earlier trip, introduced himself as Happy and shook Harry's hand...happily.
"It's nice to meet you Mister Dursley; I'm Mister Stark's personal driver; I hope you'll enjoy your stay at Stark Manor."
"Employees who don't have a home in the area lives at the Mansion; think of it as employee dorms," Miss Potts, Pepper as he had been asked to call her, explained when he asked her if there were other people staying there, "Unfortunately, you will be staying with a roommate. Don't worry, the rooms are big enough to house 10 persons. While the lack of privacy is sometimes pretty annoying, but it's nice to have some company from time to time."
"And who's my roommate?"
"His name is Alex," Pepper told him, "He's not an intern like you but a full-time employee. He is only a few years older than you so you should be able to get along. He was the new kid on the block, so to speak, before you."
As it turns out, Pepper was right; when Harry finally got to meeting Alex - after Pepper had shown him the different rooms of Stark Manor and told him which floors he cannot go then leaving after reminding him to come down to dinner at 6 - he really liked what he saw; both personality wise and look wise.
Alex was blond with gray eyes; he was well-built, tanned and had a wicked sense of humor. He even offered Harry the choice to choose which side of the room he wanted even if he had already installed himself on the left.
"I don't really mind," he told Harry once Pepper left, "I had this room for a while and since I was the odd one out, I didn't have a roommate. It's nice to have someone to talk to."
"Well, I hope I'll be enough for you," Harry quipped back playfully as he took his bag and brought it over to the right side. He didn't want to displace Alex for nothing, after all. He didn't mind what side of the room he had, as long as he had a nice bed to rest, he was happy.
"I'm sure you're going to do great," Alex told him with a sincerity that made Harry want to laugh, "Anyway, what are you here for?"
"You make this sound like some kind of prison," Harry commented wearily.
"It might as well be one," Alex told him with a sigh, "The moment you enter this house, privacy becomes a thing of the past. Everything here is monitored 24/7; I don't know if Tony Stark is just paranoid or he just went overboard while doing the wiring for this house. Our every conversation is recorded, our every move taped; even the showers have cameras. When people say Big Brother is watching you, it's truer than ever. So Harry, welcome to Stark World."
Harry actually gulped.
This world was so far from his own that Harry wondered how he will fit in.
At 5.50, Harry finished dressing and left Alex in their room to go downstairs for dinner. He had to admit he was slightly nervous about it all - meaning meeting Tony Stark again - but his nerves luckily settled down a little when he saw Pepper waiting for him at the foot of the staircase like she had said she would, clad in a gorgeous emerald dress that properly costs more than his yearly tuition fee. She smiled at his punctuality and led him to a dining room that she has not shown him earlier that day.
The opened doors revealed a spacious dining room with majestic curtains, a beautiful mahogany table, a crystal chandelier that probably costs more than what some people make in a life time, expensive paintings adorning the walls, and a beautiful window view over the sea. The young man gasped a little in awe and could practically feel Pepper's amusement next to him.
"Nice, isn't it?" she said, more of a statement than a question.
They sat down opposite each other at the table, the front left for Tony to fill. Since the man hadn't arrived yet, Pepper started asking how he had settled in, how he was finding this place, if he was excited to start his internship. Their chatter managed to pass the time effectively, and Harry found himself relaxing even more as Pepper regaled him with stories and anecdotes of her beginnings as Tony's personal assistant. It was nice really and Harry couldn't help but admire how patient Pepper was with Tony if all the stories she had told him were true. Probably was because some of them were pretty embarrassing and Harry figured she wasn't the type to make up things to make her friend look bad.
They talked and talked, but when by 6.45 Tony was still a no-show, Pepper's mood worsened.
"I don't know what's wrong with him," Pepper burst out after a while of strained silence, startling Harry. He looked up, to find that the woman on the other side wasn't even looking at him. She was just talking; venting. "I mean; he was doing so well, accepting to go to the conference and all, and then suddenly, he has this huge 180 degrees personality change. He's more reckless, he doesn't care anymore; he's irresponsible and he's hurting and I can't help him because he won't tell me what's wrong."
Harry didn't have to be a psychologist to know that Pepper was a rather private person and must be desperate if she was actually venting out her problems in front of a stranger. In response, Harry wasn't sure if he should reply or not. He didn't want to, in any case, because he didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing and risking her redirecting her anger towards him. He has never been good at comforting people; the last time he tried, it was with a girl in middle school and that had ended up with him getting slapped.
Luckily, Pepper regained her composure merely seconds after and sighed. She passed a tired hand over her face before turning to Harry with a forced smile.
"Sorry about that," she said, "I'm not usually this way, but recently things haven't been easy around here. Since you are going to work closely with Tony from today on, it would be best if you knew at least a little bit what to expect."
"Don't worry," he replied, with a dismissive shrug, "I'm sure everything's going to be fine."
Pepper nodded unconvincingly before looking at her watch again. A cursory look at the ornate clock on the wall told him it was already 7. The first dish has already been served, Pepper not wanting him to starve just because Tony was not responsible enough to be on time. The next few minutes passed in silence as they both ate, not really in the mood for conversation.
By 7.10, Pepper pushed herself away from the table and stood up elegantly.
"I'm going to look for Tony," she told Harry and without waiting for a reply, she strode out purposefully out the room. Despite not knowing Tony very well, Harry couldn't help but feel bad for the guy; sure he was late, but does it really deserve the hell that Pepper will rain on him?
About 2 minutes after Pepper has left, Harry tensed when he heard the dinner room door open once again. It wasn't the one that Pepper had gone through just a few moments ago, but another one that Harry hadn't even noticed. He turned around, wondering who it could be, and found himself face to face with Tony Stark himself.
His second impression of Tony Stark was that he was even more handsome up close. The last time he had seen him, it had been with 10 rows of students separating them. Now however, it was just the two of them and Harry's heartbeat began to race.
Not wanting to think more of it in case it made him even more nervous, Harry just stood up from his seat, and walked up to him to greet him with what he hoped was a diplomatic smile.
"Mr. Stark, it's good to see you again; thank you once more for offering me this opportunity to work with you. And if you're looking for Miss Potts, she just left a few moments ago to go find you. She will probably be back in a few minutes."
Tony winces at that.
"I do hope she's not too angry. I apologize for the delay, I got caught up with something. It's nice to see you again as well," Tony said, extending his hand to grab Harry's.
In retrospective, if people could pinpoint a moment in their life that changes them irrevocably, this was probably it for Harry, because the moment their skin came in to contact, it was as if the world around them fell away. Time stopped for Harry; he could barely breathe; a foreign energy that had remained dormant all his life, suddenly burst inside of him, enclosing him and Tony in a massive bubble of energy and lighting every cell of Harry's body on fire. The force of it was so unexpected that it would have probably knocked him off his feet if he wasn't unconsciously gripping the edge of the table with his free hand so hard his knuckle was slowly turning white.
Tony's eyes widened as well, his breathing becoming ragged as he took in the new sensation. He took an involuntary step closer to Harry as if they were magnets, pulling each other in. It felt new; terrifying, like nothing Harry has ever felt before. It was like sugary warm sensation that was slowly making its way from the point of contact to all over his body. Later, Harry would say that it wasn't really attraction or lust; it wasn't love at first sight; it was more like a sense of belonging, of companionship that could definitely turn into something more if given the time. He felt warm and loose, happy and sated, and at that moment, he wanted, more than anything to stay where he was.
Harry didn't know what this was but one thing was for sure, this wasn't normal and it scared the hell out of him. Harry had spent his life being told that being normal was the way to go. His relatives have constantly repeated that to have a good and safe future, Harry needed to blend in to the crowd; don't show any signs of weirdness. He was pretty sure his aunt and uncle would consider this weird. At the moment, Harry may not know what was going on, but he knew none of Dursley's can know about it.
Luckily, or unluckily depending on the point of view, Pepper took that exact moment to come back from where she had gone to., interrupting Harry's train of thought. She took one look at Harry and Tony, before a frown etched its way across her features.
"Anthony Edward Stark!" she started, weakening whatever held the both of them captive. And with that, Harry managed, with great difficulty, to let go of Tony's hand and take a much needed step back. His mind was reeling from all the new sensations and suddenly Harry felt really tired.
When Pepper had finally stopped talking, Harry quickly took the opportunity to excuse himself. He didn't care if he was being rude but all he wanted was to lie down. He must have looked really bad because the woman didn't even protest before ushering him off to bed. Harry went gratefully and was asleep the moment his head hit the pillows.
While Harry slept his exhaustion away, thousands of miles back in England, Albus Dumbledore was pulled from his slumber by the incessant squealing for his Harry Potter indicator. Heart beating faster than it had been for a long time, and hands shaking with excitement, Albus had gotten out of bed, walked towards the shelf and took the small ball down. He stared at it for a while before murmuring a spell, making the sphere light up.
His eyes widened.
"Minerva!" he called after throwing a handful of floo powder in to the fireplace. It took a few moments before the deputy headmistress' head appeared.
"What Albus?" she snapped, annoyed, "It's the middle of the night."
"Minerva," the headmaster repeated, ignoring her tone, "the spell preventing us from locating Harry Potter has been weakened enough for the magical signature detector to confirm that Harry is indeed still alive!"
Minerva gasped. A moment later, she had come through the fireplace and unceremoniously snatched the sphere from Albus' hand.
"Where is he?" she asked breathlessly, "Where had he been?"
Albus shook his head sadly.
"I don't know," he admitted, "But knowing he's alive is the first step. We need to step up the search efforts. We have to find him before Voldemort does."
TBC.
